Orthopedic surgeons often take x-rays in the middle of a surgical operation for a variety of reasons, such as to determine if a metal plate is properly attached across a bone fracture, to determine if screws placed into a bone are properly positioned and of the correct length, and the like. Most surgeons do not take x-rays during the middle of an operation because most surgical procedures deal with soft tissues which do not show up on x-rays.
To obtain these x-rays, a portable x-ray machine is wheeled into a sterile operating room adjacent the unconscious patient. A conventional x-ray cartridge is wrapped in sterile plastic and placed adjacent the part of the body desired to be x-rayed and is exposed by radiation from the portable x-ray machine. For most surgical operations, this works quite well. For operations on some parts of the body, most notably the foot, there is no convenient way to support the x-ray cartridge while it is being exposed. Despite everyone knowing it is undesirable to expose people to radiation, the common practice is for a doctor, nurse or technician to hold the x-ray cartridge adjacent the patient's foot while it is exposed.
The prior art contains many disclosures of x-ray cartridge supports including U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,568,191; 3,293,430; 3,521,876; 3,892,399; 4,045,678; 4,414,683 and 5,327,912.